Loose-leaf binder



Fel 12 1924.

B. P. SHEPHERB ET AL Loom?I LEAF BIDER Filed Aug. 22. 192

2 Sheets-Sheet. 1

Jig@

Patented Fels. 12, 1924.

BRUCE POSTON SHEPHERD AND MARSHALL HOTCHKSS, 0F NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE.

LOOSE-LEAF BINDER.

Application filed August 22, 1922.

ToV all fui/0m it may concern:

' Be it known that we, BRUCE l). SHEPHERD and MARSHALL HoTcHniss, citizens oi' the United States, and residents of Nashville, in the county of Davidson and State of Tennessee, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Loose-Leaf Binders, of which the following is a speciiication.

Our invention is an improvement in loose leaf binders of that type used Jfor holding interchangeable leaves in place.

An important object of our invention is to provide a loose leaf binder which may be quickly adjusted to releasably hold various quantities of superposed leaves and yet be lirmly secured against accidental opening. n

A further object of our invention is to provide a loose leaf binder which is simple in construction yet exceedingly e'icient in operation.

Other objects and advantages of our invention will more ully appear from a perusal of the following description considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings forming a part of this application and in which like characters are employed te designate like parts throughout the same,

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a device embodying our invention, showing the top cover thereof turned back,

Figure 2 is a detail perspective view of a top binding section comprised in the device,

Figure 3 is a front detail view of a locking bolt included in the device,

Figure 4 is a detail perspective view of the bottom binding'secticn of thedevice,

Figure 5 is a fragmentary perspective view of a portion of a cover and an attaching plate :for securing the cover to either of the binding sections, and

Figure 6 is a vertical cross section through the assembled top andy bottom binding sections, the bolt being in place.

In carrying out our invention we provide two binder sections A and vB, respectively, each having a vertical or back plate portion and 'a horizontal or base plate portion. The back and base plates of each rbinder section extend at substantially right angles to each other.

The section A is clearly shown in Fig. 4

Serial No. 583,554.

and the base and back plate portions thereof are designated at 10 and 11 respectively. The section B is best seen in Fig. 2'and includes a base plate portion 16 and a back plate portion 17. The back plate portion 17 of the section B is adapted to be disposed in latwise contiguous relation to the inner face ofthe back plate of the section A and to slidingly engage at its ends with vertical guides 12 provided at the opposite ends of the back plate 1l of the section A by bending the free end thereof inwardly and backwardly into substantially parallel spaced relation to the body of the back plate 11. The guides 12 are provided with vertical series lof teeth or serrations 13 in the f edges of the backwardly bent end portions of the plate 11, which end portions constitute the relatively short sides of the guides 12.

The teeth or serrations 13 are adapted to coact with teeth or seri-ations 28 at opposite ends of an expansible locking bolt L which is carried by the section B so that the section-B may be held in any desired adjustment with respect to the section A.

As best seen in Figure 3, the locking bolt L comprises two sections 23 and 24 respectively. Each of the bolt sections comprises a body o right angular outline in cross section, thus providing horizontal plate portions 23a and 24;a which are adapted to slide upon the inner face of the base plate 16 of the section Band vertical plate portions 23b and 24: which are then disposed flatwise against the inner ace of the back plate 17 of the section VB, the vertical plate portions of the bolt sections having the teeth orl serrations 28 at remote ends thereof.

The bolt sections 23 and 211 are provided at their adjacent ends with means operating to yieldingly urge these sections apart so that the ,teeth or serrations at the opposite ends of the locking bolt will be yieldingly held in engagement with the teeth 13 at the ends of the back plate 11 of the section A. In the embodiment of the invention illustrated, the means for resiliently urging the bolt sections apart includes an offset stem 25 extending from the one end of the vertical portion 23b and extending slidably through an opening 26 formed through a lug or ear 27 which eX- tends laterally of the vertical plate portion 24h at the end of the latter proximate to the bolt section 23. A coiled spring 28 encircling the stem 25 reacts at its one end against the odset at the juncture of the stem and the vertical plate portion 23b and p at its other end against the lug or ear 27 `portions 23'L1 and 242* being provided at their remote ends with laterally turned portions 29 constituting linger grips and vadapted to be pressed between the iingers ot a hand i spanning the section B. rEhe bolt sections 23 and 211 are held against displacement during their longitudinal movement in sliding" contact with the y binder section B through the engagement of the horizontal edge portions o the plates 23b and 21th with the guides 18 formed by bending the horizontal'edge portion of the plate 17 of the binder section B inwardly and backwardly and then making kerts 30 through the intermediate or vmiddle portion of the return portion oi the plate 17, and bending the walls of the portion extending between the keri's into contiguous relation in respect to each other to provide a stop 19 which obstructs the adjacent ends o1u the ways provided by the guides 18 and thus limits the inward movement of the bolt sections 23 and 24. n f

0f course it will be understood that the kerfs 30 are located at equal distances trom the adjacent ends o1nthe guides 18 so that the bolt sections 23 and 24: are permitted to travel equal distances between the ends of the stop 19 and the serra-tions or teeth 13 at the opposite ends of the plate 11.

To prevent accidental displacement of the bolt sections 23 and 24 from the binder section B when the sections A and B are separated, stops limiting the outward movement of the bolt sections in respect to the binder section B are provided in the form oi laterally struck projectionsv 22y at the ends of the plate15 of the section B and are adapted to engage shoulders 31 at the remote ends of the plate port-ions 23aL and 24u of the bolt sections. n

The plate portions 10 and 16 of the binding sections are hingedly attached along theiritree ends, as at 32, to attaching plates, such as indicated at 33v in Fig. 4, which attaching plates are secured in any suitable manner to covers 3%. In the embodiment oi? our invention illustrated, the cooperating plates of the binder sections and the attaching plates 33 are fashioned to provide inter-engaging sleeve portions at their meeting edges, which sleeve portions are adapted to be arranged in alignment to provide a bore or passage through which a spindle may be extended to swingingly support the covers on the binder sections.

The means provided by our invention to hold leaves or sheets, not shown, between the horizontal plates or the sections includes va plurality of spaced binding posts P each including two telescopic sections. ln the embodiment of the invention illustrated, each post l) has a tubular section 36 extending perpendicular to the base plate 10 of the section A and being carried by the latter, and a rod section 3"( carried by the plate 15 of the section B and extending at right angies from the plane or' the latter in position to slide in the bore of the cooperating section when the sections A and B are adjusted in respect to each other, as shown in Fig. 1.

F rom the foregoing description of the various parts of the device, the operation thereof may be readily understood. rlhe spacing between the parallel plate portions of the binder sections A and B may vary as required to accommodate various quantities oit' superposed sheets or leaves, it being understood that such sheets or leaves have their end portions provided with eyelets or openings through which the posts l) extend, as is usual in devices oi' the class 'to which our invention pertains. rthe section B is releasably held in4 any adjustment desired in respect to the section A, the number of adjustments being limited only by the width olf' the back portion 11 of the section A. rllhe teeth or serrations 13 on the back plate of the section A are slightly inclined downwardly and the teeth or serrations 23 at opposite end or' the locking bolt L cooperate with the teeth 13 to effectively loclr the section B against movement away -from the section A when the locking bolt L is in active position and the teeth 23 thereof are in vengagement with the teeth or serrations 13. The locking bolt L may be instantly disengaged from the section A through the actuation thereof because oi pressure imposed upon the linger projections at the remoteends of the bolt sections. Vihen the locking bolt L is disengaged from the binder section A, the binder sections A and B are separable to permit replacement or removal of sheets. When the 'binder sections A and B are again assembled and the finger holds atthe remote ends of the bolt sections are released,` the latter will be instantly returned by spring pressure to active position with respect to the binder section A and the two binder sections will be releasably locked together in adjusted relation to each other.

Obviously, my invention is susceptible ot' embodiment in forms other than that disclosed in the accompanying drawings and I therefore consider as my lown all modifications and adaptations of the form of the device disclosed herein which fairly fall within the scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

l. A binder comprising two sections, each having a base plate and a back plate, one of said back plates having return portions provided with teeth or serrations and the other back plate sliding in said return portions, and a two-part spring actuated bolt carried by said sliding section and having teeth or serrations engaging those of the return portions of the back plate, as and for the purpose set forth.

2. A loose leaf binder comprising a pair of clamping plates the outer edges of one of said plates being provided with teeth, and locking means associated with the plates, said locking means including a member carried by one of the plates and having teeth adapted to mesh with the teeth 'of the other plate when it is desired to adjust the position of the plates in respect to each other.

3. A device of the character described comprising top and bottom clamping sections slidable one within the other, said top section having its lower edge turned upwardly to form a guide way, and locking means adapted to move within the guide way, said locking means comprising a pair of toothed plates resiliently connected together, and handles secured to the toothed plates for controlling their movement.

4. In a loose leaf'binder a pair of binding sections slidable one within the other, one of said sections being provided With teeth, and locking means for securing said sections in a predetermined position, said Vlocking means comprising a pair of laterally movable plates, a coil spring centrally mounted between the plates to normally expand the same and teeth formed on the outer edges of the plates to engage the teeth of the binding section.

5. In a loose leaf binder, a top binding section, a bottom binding section having teeth formed on its outer edges and locking means for joining the binding sections, comprising a pair of plates resiliently connected and having their outer edges toothed for engagement with the teeth on the edges of the bottom section.

6. In a loose leaf binder, a pair of binding sections slidable one within the other, and

locking means for securing said sections in place, comprising a pairof laterally moving plates having their outer edges toothed for engaging the outer edges of one of the binding plates when in a position for locking.

7. A loose leaf binder including a top binding section having its lower edge bent upwardly to form a guide, binding post sections secured on the plate, a lower binding section having tubular binding post sections to receive the first binding post sections, said lower plate having its edges turned inwardly and having teeth formed on each of the turned in edges, and locking means comprising a pair of plates adapted to slide laterally in the guide of the top binding section, resilient means mounted between the laterally moving plates for normally holding them apart, and teeth formed on the outer edges of the locking plates for engagement with the teeth of the lower binding section for maintaining the binding sections in an adjusted position.

8. A loose leaf binder comprising two binding sections, each having a base plate and a back plate, the back plates being slidable relatively, and a bolt carried by one section, said bolt being composed of two aligned sections slidable oppositely on the back plate of said one binding section into engagement with the end portions of the back plate of the other binding section, a stem between the inner ends of said bolt sections, and a spring embracing said stem and pressing the bolt sections apart into locking position, as and for the ypurposes set forth.

9. A device of the character described comprising top and bottom clamping sections slidable one within the other, said top section having its lower edge turned upwardly to form a guide-way and said bottom clamping section having an inwardly turned lateral edge portion and a locking element slidable in the upturned lower edge portion of the top section to and from position to engage the inwardly turned lateral edge portion of the bottom section to releasably hold said clamping sections in adj ustedy position with respect to each other.

10. A device of the character described comprising top and bottom clamping sections, said bottom section having inwardly turned lateral edge portions embracing the lateral edge portions of the top section, and spring pressed locking means carried by the top section for engaging the inwardly turned lateral edge portions of the bottom section to releasably hold the sections in adjusted position with respect to each other. Y

BRUCE POSTON SHEPHERD. MARSHALL HOTCHKISS. 

